Hybrid Sales Plunge in January
We all know the economy is broken. Nobody is spending money on anything (especially if no one gets bonuses). According to UK auto statistics firm, Autodata, even hybrids have taken a sales plunge in January.
Looking at the Autodata compilation, there was a purchase surge beginning in February of 2008 which lasted until April before hybrid sales began to decline. They saw another quick increase over the summer when gas price caused a panic, and then began to teeter off as gas prices came down.
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In January, a total of 15,442 hybrid vehicles were sold in the US. These numbers reflected a 31% drop from last month, and a 41% drop from January of last year. There is a positive to this though: Hybrid sales did not drop as much as the rest of the light-duty vehicle market (cars and light trucks), and make up 2.35% of sales in the total car markets.
Overall, that’s not such a big deal. After all, our economy is broken, remember? Toyota experienced a slight drop, with the Prius not performing up to its standard and the Camry hybrid still not taking hold. The only car to post an increase in sales was the Nissan Altima Hybrid (36% increase, year-to-year).
What really perplexes me is General Motors’ hybrid sales. Over half of their reported hybrid sales have been Tahoes, Yukons, or Escalades. First, I don’t know too much about those types of cars themselves, but aren’t those all basically the same SUV? It still blows my mind that GM feels the need to make three identical SUVs and slap different brands on them, but what do I know? I ride a bike everywhere. Second, hybrid technology doesn’t really make up for the abysmal MPG performance of those cars. Don’t get me wrong, every mile adds up, but wouldn’t it be more efficient to just buy a smaller car?
I guess I should be happy that GM offers hybrid versions of their most luxurious vehicles.
Sources: Green Car Congress and Autodata
Image Credit: Thanks to Burning Image for the epic wide angle shot of the Honda Hybrid (via Flickr’s under a Creative Commons License).
“It still blows my mind that GM feels the need to make three identical SUVs and slap different brands on them, but what do I know?”
That’s a vestige from days-gone-by when GM had so much marketshare and was so flush with money they could afford to offer the same vehicle to many different demographics. IMO, they do still need two (Tahoe and Escalade), but no more.
“Second, hybrid technology doesn’t really make up for the abysmal MPG performance of those cars. Don’t get me wrong, every mile adds up, but wouldn’t it be more efficient to just buy a smaller car?”
I agree, even GMs large sedans (Impala, G8, Lucerne, DTS) will get at least high 20’s if not 30+ mpg, which is much better than 21/22 that the hybrid SUVs get, however, some people really do need a third-row of seats (e.g. if you have 3 or more kids, a sedan just won’t cut it in the real world). Plus if you need to occasionally tow a boat/camper, you can’t use anything but a truck or SUV, these days.
The reason GM makes the same SUV with the Chevy, GMC and Cadillac branding is due to the way their dealers are setup. Chevy dealers sell only Chevy’s, nothing else, because the Chevy brand is a comprehensive brand with vehicles in all sizes, markets, etc. Then their are Pontiac/Buick/GMC dealers. Both Pontiac and Buick are niche brands and neither sells trucks, therefore, GMC fills that gap for those dealers. Then Cadillac is their luxury brand that stands alone and the Escalade is their high-end luxury SUV. Remember, these were all separate companies at one time and the dealer structure has evolved over the years but due to the financial arrangements between GM and dealers, changing them is a very, very costly proposition for GM. This structure worked pretty well over the decades and they simply can’t afford any changes right now.
Bob,
Very good explanation. Thanks.
-Tim
There seems to be an unfortunate disconnection from reality among many of the posters in this forum. It has to do with the inclusion of light trucks with automobiles. These are entirely different vehicles which are built for different purposes.
One of my sons-in-law is a stone and tile mason. If he did not have the use of a pickup truck, he would not be able to feed himself, my daughter, or my grandchildren. Different tools are required for different applications. One size does NOT fit all.
But ChuckL think of all the puppies he is killing. jk